Gerontechnology
eBook - PDF

Gerontechnology

Understanding Older Adult Information and Communication Technology Use

  1. 224 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Gerontechnology

Understanding Older Adult Information and Communication Technology Use

About this book

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched Funding, and is freely available to read online.

Our aging societies have become increasingly digitalized, leading to concerns that older adults (those age 65 and older) will be disenfranchised by the grey digital divide. However, those familiar with the elder population have long noted a diversity of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) use. While some older adults reject digital technologies, others embrace them with an enthusiasm that mirrors some of the youngest members of our society. 

Gerontechnology: Understanding Older Adult Information and Communication Technology Use explores, theorizes, and explains this diversity in older adult technology use. Illustrated through interpretive interactionist case studies of 17 older adults and data from their friends, family, and co-workers, the book incorporates perspectives from Gerontology, Communication, and Information Studies in its creation of the ICT User Typology. This typology not only describes the diversity in ICT use, but categorizes older adults' motivations in domesticating technologies into their everyday lives. Focusing not only on technology adoption, it explores the challenges and joys elder users face, and the meanings these technologies come to develop for older adults. 

Useful for the researcher interested in older adult technology use, domestication studies, and technology adoption; Gerontechnology also provides valuable guidance to those practitioners and service providers who want to understand how older adults use and view technology. Practical implications for designers and advertisers seeking to engage the growing senior market are included.

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Yes, you can access Gerontechnology by Johanna L.H. Birkland in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Gerontology. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Gerontechnology: Understanding Older Adult Information and Communication Technology Use
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. List of Figures
  7. List of Tables
  8. About the Author
  9. Acknowledgments
  10. Chapter 1 Understanding Older Adult Technology Use: An Introduction to the ICT User Typology
  11. Chapter 2 Enthusiasts: The Technological Evangelists
  12. Chapter 3 Practicalists: The Technological Tool Users
  13. Chapter 4 Socializers: The Technological Social Butterflies
  14. Chapter 5 Traditionalists: The Keepers of Technological Tradition
  15. Chapter 6 Guardians: The Technological Resistance Fighters
  16. Chapter 7 Understanding the ICT User Typology and the User Types
  17. Chapter 8 User Types and the Life Course: Toward Understanding the Universality of User Types
  18. Chapter 9 The ICT User Typology in Context: A Theoretical Perspective
  19. Chapter 10 Breaking the Digital Divide
  20. Chapter 11 Discovery of the ICT User Typology
  21. Glossary
  22. References
  23. Index